Geri Nikolai: Deep Freeze good for Mother Earth

Saturday

Jan 18, 2014 at 11:00 AM

Deep Freeze 2014 was a rough one. At one time, between my daughter's house and mine, two of our three cars wouldn't start. The one that would was parked in front of one that wouldn't. And the car at my son's house was stuck in snow and on ice.

But all that cold was actually good for Mother Earth in some ways. Associated Press writer John Flesher talked to scientists and listed some reasons we should be glad we had a Deep Freeze:

Pests that come from warmer places liked last week's weather less than you and I did. A reading of 20 below will kill about half of the larvae of emerald ash borers. If it was colder, even more. It didn't wipe out the little green nasties that are taking our ash trees but it probably slowed them down.

The same is true for the gypsy moth, the hemlock wooly adelgid and the European beetle that carries Dutch elm disease. I was hoping to see Japanese beetle on the list, but alas, it wasn't there. Internet research tells me we have enough snow cover to save the beetle grubs, which winter in the soil.

A cold sweep in citrus country, that is, cold but not freezing, is actually good for citrus fruit. Because of the Deep Freeze, the next crop of oranges should taste sweeter with lower acid and more sugar.

Kudzu, that ravenous vine that is slowly covering the Southeast, probably was damaged and won't multiply quite as fast this summer.

Last, but maybe most important, the water level in the Great Lakes may rise because of the cold. Ice cover on the lakes had been decreasing in recent years, but this year about 60 percent of the surface will freeze at some point. That's good news for the economy, too. Last year, the water in Lakes Michigan and Huron got so low that cargo ships had to lighten their loads and marinas lost business. This year's Deep Freeze also resulted in huge ice chunks piled along the shorelines, which prevent erosion. And the iced-over lakes provide new paths for wandering wildlife, the gray wolf among them.

And now, a couple of tips from the National Gardening Association:

When you buy a de-icer for walks and driveways, get one with calcium chloride (CaCl) and not sodium chloride (NaCl). The calcium mix does less damage to plants and other parts of the environment. To reduce the need for salt, mix in ashes or sand.

If heavy snow is weighing down branches of trees or bushes, gently lift them from underneath with a broom to shake off the snow. This works best before the snow freezes or crusts over. If ice covers your branches, let it melt naturally; if you try to remove it, you may break the branch.